Category Archives: Uncategorized

It’s been a LONG time since a post, but a new addition to the family has arrived! Welcome, Micah! As your older brother said, “Wow, he’s like a gemstone.” So precious. 🙂 Mommy did another incredible job. A new adventure begins. The M&M Brothers make their debut, and it’s another new beginning of learning to be the best that we can be! 🙂

Malachy is one proud big brother and this Daddy is feeling truly grateful and blessed!

News came out today that 8 U.S. Army men have been charged with the death of Army Private Danny Chen. I had the honor of teaching Danny in Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten.

Today, Justice lays down her sword, puts down her scale, takes off her blindfold, and weeps. She can’t bring back Danny to his friends and family. She can’t take back all the abuse Danny endured from those who were supposed to be on his side. Peace, Hope, and Love try to comfort her, as Anger knocks on her door. Joy is far far away…

They say Danny is in a better place… Why couldn’t that place have been here?

My sis e-mailed me the other day to tell me what a great heart Malachy has. I replied and said, “He definitely has a piece of mom’s heart…” I just have to believe she is watching him from up above. What I know for sure is that she lives in Malachy, and that’s a way to always remember her by.

As for Shien, what an AMAZING mother, and how blessed our family is. The thing that is cool is that Malachy seems to really appreciate her, and that makes all the difference! 😉

Allergic Reaction
Poor Malachy was bitten by something last week. Mosquito? Spider? Wish we knew. It caused an allergic reaction, so we took him to the doctor’s. Thank goodness the doctor’s office was opened on Sundays! He had to take antibiotics for a week, and he actually loved it! 😉 Supposedly, Cephalexin is yummy! Shien still remembers taking it as a kid and liking the taste a lot.
As an added measure, I bought him a mosquito net. He loved that, too! 😉All NET!

PoPo (Grandma) came to town this week, and on the first day, after school, Malachy told Mommy and Daddy to go away on a date and leave him with PoPo. That was crazy. He gave us a blessing to go on a date! I think Shien and I have been on less than a dozen dates since Malachy was born. We are finally at a place where we don’t have to worry about him waking up and us not being around for him. And thanks to PoPo, we worry even less. 😉 Thanks, PoPo!
Oftentimes, when we did go on a date, we made sure he was asleep before we went to a dinner or a movie.
This time, he almost changed his mind after his nap. He was starting to try to disallow us to go. But, once we were at Grandma’s place, he was okay. In fact, he had the whole evening planned out, after Stella suggested making Rice Krispies treats. It was cool to hear about the details after coming home from our date.
Basically, after we left, he made a grocery list for Stella. Stella let him be very involved in the Rice Krispies process. (Thanks, Stella! 😉 ) She also said she was touched when he said that he was making some for the poor people of Haiti.
After making the treats and eating some, PoPo told him it was time for a shower. She was shocked at how agreeable he was. Usually, there is major resistance because shower = taking him away from his fun. In fact, she said he was ready for bed right after shower! Another shocker, because that’s usually another time of resistance. She told us, she was saying to herself, “What is going on?” After Stella read him a story, he told PoPo that he was ready for bed and wanted music, but PoPo was not allowed to sing. So, after she played the CD, he was asleep before the music was over! (He did wake up at 5AM the next morning, though… 🙂 ) Unbelievable!!! Here’s to more amazingly smooth dates in the future! Thanks, Malachy! 😉

So, my brother-in-law introduced me to this site, quirky.com, and ever since, I’ve been a big fan. It keeps the creative juices flowing. Basically, you can submit ideas, rate ideas, comment on ideas, but you can also become an influencer if your logo design, tagline, or name gets chosen for selected products. A few months back, they picked my tagline for DigiDudes, a mini tripod on a keychain – Always Ready, Always Steady! And now, the cents are adding up! And then, they taketh away… Why? Because silly me decided to submit an idea. They usually charge 99 bucks, but I was able to bring it down some with a coupon code.

My idea? A credit card flashlight – really really thin. Thin enough that it could fit in my wallet. Bend it to light it. Wouldn’t it be cool if they actually picked it? It’s a long shot, but hey, I thought I had to try. After all, I own over a dozen flashlights (for real), and I think there’s always room for another one. At least this one wouldn’t take up so much room… 😉

One of Malachy’s homework assignments has been to say grace during mealtimes. It’s quite simple. “God is good. God is great. Thank you Lord for our food.” With that, Malachy adds, “Enjoy!” It’s taught me what a blessing it is to be able to eat together. Of course, it helps to have the best chef in the house prepare such wonderful meals for us. Thanks, Mommy! YUMMY.

We have always been wary of allowing Malachy to watch too much television, especially Mommy, but I always felt that there were some sound educational programs out there that could provide some enrichment. When he was first born, he was exposed to lots of baseball, football, golf, and the news. And guess what? He doesn’t seem to like playing sports at all. BUT, he does like watching Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos on the evening news. They are his “friends” and when they are absent from the show, he notices and will sometimes even say he misses them. He does recognize Obama, Clinton, Bush, and other politicians he grew up with. As for regular programming for children, we found some programs to be of great educational value, and I think it has helped him to become a reader. He has watched every episode of Word World and Super Why many many times. He enjoys Sesame Street and Ni Hao Kai Lan. He enjoyed Thomas the Train, but watching full episodes never seemed to capture his attention the whole time. His latest favorite is Special Agent OSO. He has watched a lot more PBS than any other station in terms of children’s television programs. These programs don’t go crazy with the flashing and quick shifting from scene to scene. They provide a literacy enriched environment and teach lessons. We often watch them with him and make references to them when there’s a conflict or a problem that needs to be resolved. The key is not to let him watch hours at a time, as it seems so easy at times to just plop him in front of the television. I think that’s what gets some kids overstimulated or superstimulated, where they then need that constant visual stimulation in order to sit still and focus.

I was listening to This American Life, from National Public Radio, the other night, and they were talking about all of the Mommy Blogs out there and how Daddy Blogs have not caught on for one reason or another. So, I thought, why not? I’ve been meaning to write and write, but couldn’t think of what I wanted to write about, so I didn’t write. Now, I have no excuse but to write. Giving Time Outs never came easy for me, as a teacher or a dad. I’m thinking that taking Time Outs to just write about fatherhood will come much more easily. But, for now, it’s late, so this dad better get some sleep.

Mommy bought a box of Jelly Belly Gourmet Jelly Beans back in February for Chinese New Year. We brought it to a party, and some were eaten, but the host insisted we take them back home. So, we decided to use them for Potty Training! After Malachy’s attempts to do his deed, he would get to pick ONE Jelly Belly from the 40 assorted flavors. Little did we know, he would learn a lot of self-control from this. After all, he could only choose one. He would study them and ask about each flavor. He would look and look until we started a countdown. Many times, we would get to zero and he still hadn’t made his final decision. With the box closing on him and the threat of them being taken away, he would finally make his decision. Months later, he knows all his flavors AND he’s potty trained, too!